Machine for topping onions.



PATBNTED JULY 30, 1907.

P. JANSBN. MACHINE FOR TOPPING ONIONS.

APPLICATION IILED MAR-13, 1907.

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24 Pe/er div/766W nu: mum's FETFRS 00., WASHINGTON, n, c.

'NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MACHINE FOR TOPPING- ONIONS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed March 13,1907. Serial No. 362,112.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PETER JANsnN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Griffith, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for ToppingOnions; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

For rendering onions marketable I have produced a machine for cleaningand removing the tops therefrom and in which the operation of cleaningand topping are rendered continuous under the action of agitatingreciprocating bars and spirally grooved and non grooved pairs of toppingrolls and in the claims appended hereto and in connection with theaccompanying drawings 1 will specifically set out the parts andcombinations of parts which constitute my invention.

Referring to these drawings: Figure 1.represents in top view an oniontopping machine embracing my im- Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsection of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken through thetopping rolls. Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken through the cleaningand feeding bars. Fig. 5 shows in top view the operating connections forthe topping rolls.

The operating parts of the machine are mounted in a suitable frame inwhich a pair of horizontal parallel long side boards 1, 1, fixed toposts form the housing for the operating parts which are arranged in twosections one in advance of the other between the side boards. Theadvance or initial section is for receiving the onions and shaking,cleaning, and feeding them forward, and the terminal or delivery sectionis for receiving the cleaned onions and pulling off their tops, theoperations being successive and continuous. The shaking, cleaning andfeeding section is formed by a plurality of bars 2, each having itsupper edge stepped whereby shoulders 3, having their vertical wallsstanding forward serve, under a longitudinal movement of the bars, tofeed the onions forward upon the bars in the manner of a shakingplatform feed. Spaces separate the bars for escape of the dirt which isshaken and rubbed from the onions by the agitation they receive from thevertical and lengthwise movements of the bars. For this purpose the barsare pivotally mounted on a crank shaft 4, so that under the rotation ofthe shaft, they will be caused to rise and fall alternately at theircrank connected ends only while they are longitudinally reciprocated,assuming in their advance movements practically horizontal positions.For this purpose the forward ends of the bars are unattached and restand slide upon a plate 5, which overhangs the topping section. Forcausing the bars to move in regular paths their crank mounted ends aremovable beprovements.

tween vertical rods 6, at the end of the frame and their delivery endsare movable between short studs or pins 7, at the plate upon which theyslide.

The topping section comprises a plurality of rolls 8 which inclinedownward from the overhanging plate and are rotated in pairs inoppositedirections. I prefer to mount these rolls in a separate frame 9,pivoted at 10, at its inner end beneath the overhanging plate 5 andsuspended at its lower end by means whereby the inclination of the rollsmay be adjusted to suit the work. The central pair of rolls are each attheir inner ends provided with a sprocket pulley 11, 11, and are drivenby a sprocket chain 12, from a driven sprocket pulley 13, mounted atoneside of the frame and passing over a loose sprocket pulley 14, at theother side of the frame, the chain on its mountings passing over thesprocket pulley of one of said central pair of rolls and engaging thesprocket pulley of the other roll of the central pair, whereby thesecentral pair of rolls are caused to rotate in opposite directions. Thesprocket pulley of each of the central pair of rolls has a pinion 15,which engages with a pinion 16, on a roll which co-acts with and forms apair with each roll of the central pair, so that the pair of gearedrolls will be caused to rotate in opposite directions. To render thistopping of the onions effective I find that providing one of each drivenpair of rolls with a shallow spiral groove 17 and the other roll of thepair non grooved, will cause the tops to be drawn down between the rollsand that spiral edge of the groove which rotates toward the contiguousungrooved roll, to engage and sever the top. In this the ungrooved rollsurface coacts with the groove to draw the onion top down into thegroove and to aid in pulling it off, while the onions are supported uponthe smooth surface of the rolls and are prevented thereby from beingbruised, by its downward travel over and by their rotation By arrangingthe roll carrying frame within the fixed frame sides, not only rendersit convenient to adjust the inclination of the rolls within said framesides but renders it advantageous to operate the rolls at the pivotedend of their mounting frame and therefore not interfering with theoperating connections in the adjustment of the roll frame. Anotheradvantage in the transverse connections for operating the rolls is thatit allows the crank shaft of the shouldered cleaning and feeding bars tobe operated by the same connections which operate the topping rolls. Forthis purpose a shaft 19, mounted transversely in the frame sides, has abevel gear 20, which engages a bevel pinion 21, on the shaft 22, onwhich the chain driven sprocket pulley is fixed; while a sprocket pulley23, on the other end of said transverse shaft, engages by a sprocketchain 24, a sprocketpulley 25, on the end of the crankshaft. Thetransverse shaft may be driven by power or by a hand crank 26, on thegear wheel. The cranks of the shouldered feed bars, are of sufiicientstroke to give them considerable throw and thereby cause the onions tobe subjected to violent jumping movements about the crank mounted endsof the bars, and it will be noted that this jumping movement decreases to ward their delivering ends, and which by their sliding movements pushthe onions off the fixed plate which overhangs the rolls. The spacebetween the pairs of rolls is sui'licient to cause them, by theirrotation, to I pull the tops between them into the grooves, the edges ofwhich will act to pull off the tops; and it is important to note thatthis pulling off function is caused by the action of the pair of rollsone of which has an unbroken surface while the other has spiral grooves.

It will be understood that the onions are cleaned and topped when in thecondition best suited for preparing them for the market and that theaction of the spiral groove and that of one of its spiral edges, servein connection with the ungrooved roll to effect the topping withoutpulling the stem completely out of the body of the onion; that so easyand expeditiously does the machine do the workthat two men can clean andtop as many onions in two hours as four men can do by hand in a day;that the length of a full size machine is about eight feet; the rollsbeing about twenty four inches long and the feeding bars about six feetlong, so that the onions will be caused in their movement over the barsto be shaken up against one another and upon the bars and to passtherefrom and drop upon the rolls and by them subjected to the toppingopera tion. It will also be noted that the revolution of the crank shaftwill cause the ends of the bars connected to the cranks to have up anddown jerky movements, whereby the onionsare very thoroughly jolted andrubbed together by each up and down jolting and that the feed of theonions is effected by the shoulders of the bars on their forwardmovements and so far as I know and can find the combination of means forcleaning, feeding and topping onions by a continuous operation of suchmeans, is a new feature in a machine for preparing onions for themarket.

As the inclination of the rolls governs the feed of the onions thereon Iprovide means for adjusting such inclination, and-which as shownconsists of a bale for yoke 27, centrally suspended by a screw stem 28,from a top cross bar 29, at the delivery end of the rolls, the ends ofthe bale being' connected to each side of the roll carrying frame and ahandled nut 30, engaging the screw stem on top of the bar and it is theturning of this nut which raises and lowers the delivering end of thepivotally mounted roller-frame.

The side boards of the frame form a continuous hopper for the feed ofthe onions; and a central divider 31, prevents the onions from passingdown between the central pair of rolls which rotate upward and thereforeare not adapted to draw the onion tops between them.

The advantage of providing the topping rolls with shallow spiralgrooves, is that each groove provides two spiral edges each of which asthe rolls revolve serves to draw the tops into the grooves and assistthe non grooved roll in pulling off the tops and for this purse1,s57

pose I prefer to make the spiral grooves of greater width than depth sothat each groove will form a pair of surface edges which co-act with thenon grooved roll to pull off the onion tops and thus avoid the objectionof surface ribs which have been used on rolls for that purpose and whichcause the cutting and bruising of the onions While I have described thepreferred embodiment of my invention it will be. evident to thoseskilled in the art, that changes in the form and details of constructionmay be varied without departing from" my invention.

I claim:

1. In a machine for topping onions, a trough, a plurality of cleaningand feeding bars forming the bottom of said trough and having theirupper edges stepped to form shoulders, a crank-shaft on which thereceiving ends of said bars are mounted for vertical and reciprocatingmovements, a fixed support on which the delivering ends of said bars areadapted to have sliding movements, a plurality of topping rolls, one ofeach pair having spiral grooves and located at the junction of said barsand the topping rolls for causing the grooved and ungrooved rolls torotate in opposite directions in pairs and means for operating thecrank-shaft, the said rolls forming a continuation of the hopper bottomand upon which the onions are delivered from the feeding'and cleaningbars.

2. In a machine for topping onions, a frame, a hopper mounted in saidframe, a plurality of cleaning and feeding bars forming the bottom ofsaid hopper, a plurality of topping rolls at a lower level, one of eachpair having spiral grooves and forming a longitudinal continuation ofthe hopper bottom, means for causing the rolls to rotate in oppositedirections in pairs, and means suitably mounted on the machine forreciprocating the cleaning and feeding bars, and means for deliveringthe onions from the latter upon the topping rolls, whereby the cleaning,feeding and topping; operations are rendered successive and continuouswithin the same hopper.

3. In a machine for topping onions, a frame, a hopper mounted in saidl'rame, a plurality of cleaning and feeding bars forming the bottom ofsaid hopper, a plurality of topping rolls arranged at a lower level andforming a longitudinal continuation of the hopper-bottom and one of eachpair having spiral grooves, and a fixed plate at the delivery ends ofthe bars and overhanging the receiving ends of the rolls, means locatedbeneath said plate and thereby protected from the falling onions forcausing the rolls to rotate in opposite directions in pairs, and meanslocated on the machine for reciprocating the cleaning and feeding bars,whereby the treatment of the onions on the bars and on the rolls isrendered successive and continuous.

4. In a machine of the character described and in combinati0n,-a hopperforming frame, a plurality of cleaning and feeding bars forming thebottom of said hopper and having shoulders at their upper edges, a shafthaving a plurality of cranks on each of which one end of each bar ismounted, a fixed support for the delivery ends of said bars, incombination with a plurality of pairs of rolls mounted within saidhopper-frame to rotate in opposite directions in pairs, one of said pairhaving spiral grooves of greater width than depth each groove forming apair of surface edges which co-act with the non grooved roll to pull offthe onion tops, means for causing the rolls to rotate in oppositedirections in pairs, and means located at the junction of the said barsand the topping rolls for operating the crank-shaft.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

PETER JANSEN.

Witnesses:

O. K. MoaroN. C. N. Mormon.

